13 November 2023
Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships 2023 set for action in Scotland
World Curling events return to Europe when Aberdeen and Perth in Scotland host the Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships from 18–25 November.
Curl Aberdeen will host the men’s and women’s competitions of the A-Division, while the ten women’s and 16 men’s teams of the B-Division will compete at the Dewars Centre in Perth.
This will be the 48th edition of the European championships, and it is once again supported by long-term sponsor Le Gruyère AOP, for the 21st time. In total, 28 Member Associations will be represented at these championships.
The ten A-Division women’s teams are: Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Norway, Scotland, Switzerland, Sweden and Türkiye
- Czechia, skipped by a returning Anna Kubeskova, gained promotion from last year’s B-Division.
- Denmark, skipped by long-time vice-skip Mathilde Halse, are the reigning European champions.
- Estonia, skipped by Marie Kaldvee, won the B-Division last year to gain promotion.
- Germany are skipped by Emira Abbes for the first time at this level.
- Italy are skipped by current Olympic mixed doubles champion Stefania Constantini.
- Norway finished eighth last season, however, won silver medals at the world championship. Their fourth thrower is double Olympic mixed doubles medallist Kristin Skaslien.
- Scotland took bronze last year and are skipped once again by Rebecca Morrison.
- Sweden are a new team at this level, skipped by Isabella Wranaa. All of the team members are world junior medallists, four of them took gold in 2017.
- Switzerland are represented by current world champions and last season’s European silver medallists, skipped by Silvana Tirinzoni.
- Türkiye are skipped by Dilsat Yildiz, who will be making her 11th appearance at this event.
The ten A-Division men’s teams are: Czechia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland and Türkiye
- Czechia, skipped by Lukas Klima, will be looking to improve on last season’s seventh-place finish.
- Finland, skipped by Kalle Kiiskinen, gained promotion from last season’s B-Division.
- Germany, skipped by Sixten Totzek, who is making a fifth appearance, finished eighth last season.
- Italy, skipped by Joel Retornaz, who is making a 15th appearance at this event, took bronze last season.
- Netherlands, skipped by Wouter Goesgens, return to the A-Division, after winning last season’s B-Division.
- Norway are skipped by Magnus Ramsfjell, former world junior medallist and World University Games champion, who is making a debut at this level.
- Scotland, skipped by Bruce Mouat, are current world champions and defending European champions.
- Sweden are the current Olympic champions. The team is skipped by six-time world champion and seven-time European champion Niklas Edin.
- Switzerland, skipped by Yannick Schwaller, are last season’s silver medallists.
- Türkiye are skipped by Ugurcan Karagoz, who led this team to sixth place last season, to qualify for Türkiye’s first-ever world championship appearance.
The ten B-Division women’s teams, who will play in Perth, are: Austria, Belgium, England, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland (promoted as last season’s C-Division winners), Slovakia (promoted from last season’s C-Division) and Slovenia.
The 16 B-Division men’s teams are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, Estonia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein (promoted from last season’s C-Division), Poland (promoted from last season’s C-Division), Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine (promoted as last season’s C-Division winners) and Wales.
A-Division schedule
Round-robin play commences on Saturday 18 November and will continue until the afternoon of Thursday 23 November. In both events, the top four teams will progress to the semi-finals.
The women’s semi-finals will take place in the evening of 23 November, the men’s semi-finals will be held in the morning of 24 November. In both genders, in one semi-final the team ranked first after the round robin will play the fourth-placed team, whereas the second-placed team will meet the third-ranked team in the other semi-final.
The losers of the semi-finals will play for bronze medals on 24 November both in the women’s and the men’s competition. The finals will be held on Saturday 25 November.
As well as being championships in their own right, the European championships also act as qualifiers for the world championships held later in the season.
In the women’s event, the teams are playing for qualification for the BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship 2024, being held in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada in March 2024. The top eight teams will qualify for this event.
In the men’s competition, qualification for the LGT World Men’s Curling Championship 2024, being staged in Schaffhausen, Switzerland in April 2024, will be up for grabs. Eight European teams qualify for the world championship, including hosts Switzerland.
In addition, in both the women’s and the men’s competition, the bottom two teams from the A-Division will be relegated to next season’s B-Division, while the top two teams from the B-Division will be promoted to next season’s A-Division.
The World Curling Federation will provide coverage of A-Division games on The Curling Channel, on the Recast platform. Click here for the broadcast and streaming schedule.
Engage with the World Curling Federation in the lead up to the Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships 2023 on X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook and by searching the hashtags #curling and #ECC
